In a novel split into three separate but intertwined story lines, we meet a young man and a young woman having trOh what a ride this was. What a ride!

In a novel split into three separate but intertwined story lines, we meet a young man and a young woman having troubled love life in ways, that are not so easily remedied. Like for instance Andrew Harrington who is madly in love with Marie Kelly – who is then murdered by Jack the Ripper. Andrew is thrown into huge depths of despair which after 8 long years causes him to want to kill himself. However, his cousin intervenes, claiming that it will be possible for Andrew to travel back in time and save Marie by killing Jack the Ripper.

Because time travel is possible. A man has opened a business in the middle of London where he offers the possibility to travel to the year 2000 and see the final battle between the humans and the automatons. So the cousins visit this man, Gilliam Murray, to make him help them go back in time.

But time traveling is not all that easy so Murray encourages them to enlist the help of the one man responsible for putting the idea of time traveling and dreams of the future in to the minds of everyone, the author of The Time Machine, H.G. Wells. Because guess what he has stashed away in the attic?

Meanwhile, Claire Haggerty is quickly making herself impossible, refusing to bow down to her parents’ expectations about how it is proper for a young lady to behave. When she and her cousin goes on one of Murray’s time travels to the year 2000, she falls in love with the handsome captain leading the human charge, Derek Shackleton. Another impossible love, separated by more than 100 years and with unforeseeable consequences should one of them attempt to stay with the other.

Not much is exactly as it seems in this novel. People are not telling the truth, real historical figures rub elbows with imagined ones, and with the possibility of time travel nothing is sacred. Everything is subject to change. Or so it seems.

And just when things really get weird or when people start getting intimate, the author calmingly inserts himself to explain a few things, point something out that the characters may not know (yet) or even to give them a bit of privacy. He does this all the way through this book and I loved that!

I’m fascinated by the paradoxes time traveling causes. In this book, the characters are faced with the typical ones; the ones, we know from Return to the Future, Doctor Who and more. What happens if you kill your own grandparents? If you change something in the past, how will it effect the future? And is time traveling even possible?

I really haven’t read much science fiction, I haven’t read anything by H.G. Wells, and I don’t know much about the theories behind parallel universes but I absolutely loved this novel. Parts of it were better than others, but still, the ideas in this novel are so fantastic and amazing that I just loved it. I am no judge as to whether these are actually new and amazing ideas or I’m just new to the genre, so keep that in mind but this one comes with my warmest recommendations. This is the way I like my speculative fiction!

With surprise guests like Bram Stoker, Henry James and The Elephant Man, this novel is a roller coaster of unexpected twists and turns. Reality is not what you thought it was – or maybe it is – or maybe it isn’t. Who knows? You’ll have to read this thing to find out what’s real and what’s not because I’m not telling. And guess what? There’s a sort of sequel so it doesn’t end here! Or maybe it does…

The first story is written by Eoin Colfer of Artemis Fowl fame. It’s a short, fun romp and even though I have to admit that I have never watched the fThe first story is written by Eoin Colfer of Artemis Fowl fame. It’s a short, fun romp and even though I have to admit that I have never watched the first Doctor, I got a clear impression of how different a doctor he was, than the 9th, 10th and 11th doctors who are my doctors.

Eoin Colfer lets the Doctor and his granddaughter Susan go up against the Soul Pirates, some nasty fellows who kidnap children and then chop them up for parts. The Doctor has already been up against them before – and that caused him a hand. Thus, we meet him in this novel shopping for a new hand. And of course, while he does so, Susan gets into trouble and so, it’s the Doctor to the rescue. But a rescue made somewhat trickier by the fact that the Soul Pirates beam their victims up in a way so the victims loose any idea of where they are and what’s going on but instead think they are in a kind of paradise.

I can’t judge whether Colfer nails the Doctor – I have no clue about that – but I liked that he felt different and distinctive compared to the Doctors I know. And I liked Colfer’s many nods to the Doctor’s time traveling ability and to culture, Hogwarts, Mr. Scrooge and others.

And I thoroughly loved the epilogue’s nod to Peter Pan! It’s kind of obvious and the story had incorporated Peter Pan elements earlier too and it was very nicely done, I thought.

Overall, I enjoyed myself. It was half an hour or so well spend. Nothing that blew my mind or anything but a nice way to spend some time while we wait for the new Doctor Who episodes in March....more

Sometimes on white nights, as the sunlight crept in beneath my curtains, I tried to recall what it felt like to sleep in sync with the sun. How strangSometimes on white nights, as the sunlight crept in beneath my curtains, I tried to recall what it felt like to sleep in sync with the sun. How strange and peaceful it sounded to dream every night in the dark. (p. 237)

What would happen if the world started to slow so that the days slowly grew longer, first by only a few minutes, but then by hours – and the days just continued growing as the earth slows down?

Well, at first it might sound absolutely wonderful. Who hasn’t dreamt of adding a few extra hours to the day, hours that could be spent reading some of the many, many books on my to-read list and wish-list!

But when the days just keep growing longer, it has huge influences on many things. The birds start dying, the whales beach themselves and die, the crops can’t live and grow with the prolonged periods of light – and especially dark. And of course, the people are feeling it too. If the sun shines for 72 hours, how do you cope?

For Julia and her parents, their day to day life is hugely changed after the earth slowed. Of course, they are growing scared and insecure because the future is suddenly unknown and life as they know it, have changed completely. And their family unit as well as Julia’s friendships are threatened. But – and this is definitely one of the book’s strengths – Julia questions how much of the changes are caused by this disaster and how much is caused just by normal human life, always changing.

The book is told from Julia’s point of view which gives it an interesting dimension. Because, yes, Julia is worried about what’s happening and wonders why her father works so much, but she worries even more about the cute boy in school and about her best friend having to go away. Which of course makes perfect sense for a teenager to care about these things, worry about being teased by the others and generally care more about these everyday aspects of life than about the bigger issues.

What’s interesting about this type of dystopia is, that we never get an explanation about why the earth slowed. We’re just told it has, that the days keep getting longer and longer and that people are struggling to cope, that conflicts between those who want to keep living in 24 hour days and those who want to live in accordance with the sun are erupting – but no explanation. The question is: do we need such an explanation? For parts of the book, I really wanted to know. But then I realized that that’s not important. The important thing is how people react, how easily we turn on each other when we are scared and see others as being different – and that life goes on, no matter what. That even though the world is slowly grinding to a halt, life is still being lived.

And I guess that is what is fascinated about such books. How we the people react and how even such drastic events in some ways get old and the more pressing things of every day life becomes more important – especially when you are a teenager. I also really liked how she showed how different people tackled the event and how the dominant faction, the ones continuing to live 24-hour-days, started persecuting the ones trying to live their days as the sun dictated.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. I thought the premise was extremely promising and that the novel for the most parts delivered. It’s not necessarily a novel that stays with you after you finish it but it is a fascinating idea – and an extremely capable debut novel....more

Author: I've written this amazing fantasy novel set in a beautiful forest with all kinds of interesting creatures.Editor: Well, actually I'm looking fAuthor: I've written this amazing fantasy novel set in a beautiful forest with all kinds of interesting creatures.Editor: Well, actually I'm looking for a sci-fi novel.Author: Oh, well I can move it to space, no problem.Editor: Oh good. Who are the characters?Author: I have this amazing set of sisters ...Editor: Ehm - I need a guy as the main character with a girl sidekick.Author: I can fix that as well. Editor: Good.Author: And then the guy and girl fall in love at the end.Editor: No ... they are actually more like travelling mates.Author: Oh - well, I can do that. And then they travel through space on an enormous spaceship.Editor: More like they travel in an old blue policebox - it's called a Tardis.Author: A Tardis? Never heard of it. But don't worry - I can make it work.Editor: Just ditch the Tardis and use the spaceship - it's easier that way. But the guy has to have something called a sonic screwdriver. Author: Sonic screwdriver? Well, he dosn't have to use it much does he, 'cause I don't really know what that is.Editor: No problem. Just mention it a couple of times.Author: Sure thing. Does this character have a name.Editor: Yeah, Doctor Who.Author: Wasn't that like cancelled many years ago?Editor: Yeah, but it's back.Author: Oh.

Seriously, this is what this book felt like. Like it was just some generic book and then the author made some minor adjustments and voila - it became a Doctor Who novel. Now, I really liked shared universes - but I hate them so much too and this book is the reason why. At no point does it feel like a Doctor Who novel. It takes more than just calling the main character the Doctor and then naming his companion the right name. This did not feel like Eleven and Amy.The story itself is some weird story involving reenactment of old Robin Hood type games, a stolen hat, a big tournament with only three teams (the Visitors, the Turists and the Gentlemen) and for the first big part of the book, it really didn't make any sense at all. I had no clue as to what was going on. Villains cruised in and out of the book with no time to get to know - or dislike - them. None of the characters really stepped out of the book, neither the good or the bad buys. And the plot ... well, it didn't make much sense and you just kind of tried to read on, read on, desperately trying to get to the end in the hope that something would stand out towards the end.And when you finally arrive at the end, it's rather obvious - and not at all worth the time you spent getting there.It all just tied together so neatly - too neatly: 'We're stranded here - maybe forever. But oh - see, the notorious villain comes to our rescue even though the odds against him finding us is staggering. But luckily he had something to guide him to us because someone else had foreseen this whole thing so tada - everything ties together in a neat little bow.'Looking back, there were about two things I really liked about the book. I liked the idea of the part of the tournament where the contestants had to crack nuts with huge hammers without damaging the nut and there was a nice scene towards the end where we loose one of the main characters. This scene was the only one in the entire book where I felt an emotional contact to any of the characters and that's just not enough.Of course it didn't help that the e-book suffered from some very bad formatting, the title showing up in the middle of sentences all over the book. It definitely did not add to my reading experience but at the same time, this book was so bad already that it just added to my already bad experience.This is one of very few books that I wouldn't recommend - the only other one I can think of is The Tommyknockers by Stephen King. It's been several years since I've read it - or I should say tried to read it - and I couldn't finish it. This one I finished - but it really wasn't worth it....more

Doctor Who is a very established series in the UK. I was lucky to discover it when I was on maternity leave with my first daughter. I haven't seen anyDoctor Who is a very established series in the UK. I was lucky to discover it when I was on maternity leave with my first daughter. I haven't seen any of the old series so my experience with the Doctor is with doctors nine, ten and now eleven - and I'm so hooked! I'm so impressed with how they are able to switch doctors and still keep the interest going and people keep tuning in - and let the doctors be so diferent, although still the same. Lots of interesting discussions about personal identity can start right here!Ten was my first doctor and he's still my favourite - but I decided that with the books, I'd start with the first of the new doctors, nine. When I watched the season with nine (played by Christopher Eccleston), I immediately liked him. He was a very cool doctor in his leather jacket and he seemed a bit more haunted by the past than ten (and eleven), and I liked that. Unfortunately, I don't feel much of the essence of nine shines through in this book starring him and Rose as his companion. And the same goes for Rose - so far she's my favourite companion but in this book, I don't really feel that the author got her. And that's a major drawback with this book. When you write in the Who universe, you have to capture the essences of both Doctor and companion - it's not good enough if it could be just any Doctor and that's what it feels like to me in this book unfortunately.Besides this major point, I liked the book. Nine and Rose get stuck in 1920s London when the Tardis gets taken. They - of course - stumble upon an adventure involving clockwork robots, mechanical cats, a Painted Lady, seemingly insane characters and the Romanovs when they help a butler who was being attacked by a mysterious creature with steel hands that left oil behind on the scene. And after that, the ride starts and although the plot isn't the most intriguing, I still liked it. Especially the cat that keep re-appearing - but of course cats have nine lives! Only problem with the plot is that it's in parts taken from the tv series ('Girl in the Fireplace' and more) - but I guess you have to accept that with this kind of book.As a stand-alone book, this definitely wouldn't work - but as a fix while waiting for the new season of Doctor Who to air, this works quite well although I hope that later novels will be better able to capture the different personalities of the various doctors and companions....more

I like long books. I like diving into a thick book and staying there for days, getting to know the characters and the world they live in. I like to spI like long books. I like diving into a thick book and staying there for days, getting to know the characters and the world they live in. I like to spend some time with them - which is why I don't read that many short stories and why I often prefer watching TV series rather than movies. This book is only 329 pages so it's a rather quick read. Too quick. And not just because I got through it rather a few days. Mostly because it could have used more pages to really introduce and explain the world, it's set in. I felt confused for quite a large part of the book and that's a shame.It takes place in Bangkok, but not the Bangkok we know. This Bangkok is in a world where the foodstuff have been largely ruined. The scientific advances have been great but have unfortunately cost the world a very high price. One example is a father who wanted to please his daughter and therefore, he has a Cheshire cat made for her since she loves Alice in Wonderland. But this cat is superior to regular cats so it mates with a lot of other cats and their genes are suppressed so quickly, there's nothing but Cheshire cats. Food companies are desperately trying to find some kind of food thought to be extinct - or even better, seeds. Good ol' fashioned seeds you can actually sow and grow something real from.In Bangkok, the Environmental Ministry have their White Shirts to try to protect the Kingdom from all the infections of the natural world. A line of work, that's not exactly popular with the Trade Ministry who of course wants to trade with the world outside Thailand.This is also a world where war has become more commonplace, and ethnic cleanings ditto. There's a huge population of Chinese refugees living in Bangkok. Most of these are living in absolutely horrendous conditions.Japan is on the forefront of things and have managed to create artificial people. Unfortunately - or so some think - these people came after the Cheshire cats so they are not able to reproduce and are not able to move fluidly but move kind of joltingly. Therefore, they're called Windups. Windups are not common in Thailand but some have managed to slip in, accompanying their masters but they are looked down upon.In this confusing world, we follow several characters. An American, Anderson Lake, trying to find seeds and new foodstuffs in the streets of Bangkok. A Chinese refugee desperately trying to carve out a new life for himself after having lost everything. A Japanese Windup Girl left on the streets in Bangkok, horribly unsuited for the heat and only able to survive as a prostitute. A White Shirt, the Tiger of Bangkok, Captain Jaidee and his second in command, Kanya.The story is being told from the point of view of all these characters, and while it add a bit to the confusion, it's also an incredible way of telling this story. So much is going on all the time. The political scene changes constantly, Trade and Environment is in a constant battle, the city of Bangkok is constantly fighting to avoid being overtaken by the ocean surrounding it.This also means, that this is not a gentle book. Not only have people had very tough lives with devastating losses before we even meet them, they also have those lives in this book. Particularly Emiko, the Windup Girl, the book's title character. Emiko has a harder life than most. Just because she's a Windup, it doesn't mean she doesn't feel. She feels a lot - mostly hot, but also other feelings. She's being abused daily in the worst way by someone who despises her and has no one to lean on.Everything changes of course, as these person's lives interfere more and more. And as the world blows up in their faces.I had a hard time writing this review. When I finished reading it, I thought it was a 4 stars read. But now it's been a little while and although I really liked it when reading it but afterwards, it hasn't left much of an impression on me. And I've had the hardest time writing this review. And not just because I accidentally closed down the window I was writing in it, so it all disappeared. I'm not sure why this is since I got really caught up in this while reading it and it was so exciting when things really started happening. I think a lot of my issues with this book are connected to the confusion I felt and then we're back with the length of this one. This would have benefitted from maybe 100 pages more....more

Coming into this book, I didn't know what to expect. I never saw the movie - only caught a glimpse of it now and then so I had a vague idea of what itComing into this book, I didn't know what to expect. I never saw the movie - only caught a glimpse of it now and then so I had a vague idea of what it was about - or at least I have an image of a guy with his eyes taped open falling down some stairs. Not even sure if it is from the movie version of this book! Suffice to say, I didn't really know what I was getting into.

Alex, the main protagonist, is a teenager with a drive towards violence. He and his friends enjoy beating up older people, raping girls, breaking and entering and other "fun and recreational" stuff like this.However, one evening he is betrayed by his friends and because of this, he gets caught by the police and sent to jail. After a couple of years, he gets betrayed by his cellmates and therefore is blamed for the death of one of the other inmates. Because he apparently hasn't bettered himself by being in jail, he is chosen to be a test person for a new kind of association therapy that should cure him of his criminal intentions by getting him to associate violence with pain.

The biggest surprise for me was the language. I had no idea that Burgess invented a kind of teenage slang inspired by Russian for the book. I get the why - but it made the book hard to get into for me. Still, I appreciated some of the word pictures he painted throughout the book, like when the protagonists and his friends are driving at one point and "running over odd squealing things on the way." (23) or when he wants to hear some music "before getting my passport stamped /.../ at sleep's frontier". (28)

The main theme of this book is about goodness - if goodness is something you choose and if you are a real person if you don't have the ability to choose but are forced to do good by being turned into a kind of machine only capable of doing good. Are you a good man if you only do good acts by becoming violently ill otherwise?And this is where the title comes from - a clockwork orange is a person that can be controlled by others who can decide what it should do, in essence just a machine, although it looks like an organism.It's a violent book but it's not violence just for violence's sake; it has a purpose.

I didn't appreciate the first half of the book - I think mainly because I found the language made it hard to get into it - but I found it a very intriguing read when Alex was put into jail and got started on the association therapy and the idea of the book with it's discussion of what it means to be good is always current and was very interesting....more

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. I thought the first half was kind of slow-paced and although I liked the ideas in it, I didn't really gI'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. I thought the first half was kind of slow-paced and although I liked the ideas in it, I didn't really get into it. Then the second half kicked in and I got caught up in it - and so it moved from a three star rating to a four star rating.

The main protagnist Rick Deckard earns his living as a bounty hunter on a bleak, gray and sad Earth, almost destroyed by World War Terminus and covered in a dust that have contaminated most of Earth's surface. Most people either died or moved on to Mars, but some remain - Rick and his wife are some of them and Rick kills androids that have escaped from Mars by killing their owners and fleeing.But as science has progressed, the androids more and more resemble humans and this makes them harder to kill because they are harder to detect - but it also poses interesting questions about who has the right to live and to decide that others have to die.The androids are considered not-human and lower than anything else - they have no rights and are not worth saving, they are considered things. Androids do not feel empathy so that is how you distinguish between an android and a real human being. One of the key issues for Decker is that as the book starts out, he doesn't feel any empathy with the androids - but as the story progresses, he starts to doubt himself and doubts that what hes's doing is actually right.

One of the things I liked about the book was the value it places on animals. Animals, too, have become almost extinct like humans, so to own a live animal is something huge and impressive. Rick only owns an electric sheep, the animal for people on a budget, but dreams of owning a real animal like he did once before. Animals are the most precious, even more so than the humans that remain on earth.

Another think I liked was the mood organs that everybody owns and uses to control their emotions. Some of the moods you can choose are just amazing - like 888 (the desire to watch TV no matter what's on it) or 594 (pleased acknowledgment of husband's superior wisdom in all matters) - I'm pretty sure my boyfriend would love it if he could dial the last one on my mood organ!!! ;-)

I also liked the introduction of kipple - kipple is junk and you have to constantly fight against it: "When nobody's around, kipple reproduces itself. For instance, if you go to bed leaving any kipple around your apartment, when you wake up the next morning there's twice as much of it. It always gets more and more."(56) - so that's why my house looks so messy...!

It's one of those books that make you think after you put it down - as with all the books on the '1001 books you must read before you die'-list, I'm glad to have read it and find it definitely worth the time although it's not one of my favourites....more

How would you feel if you were part of the last humans on earth - if the human race was no longer able to have children but one generation was the lasHow would you feel if you were part of the last humans on earth - if the human race was no longer able to have children but one generation was the last and man had to continue life while our numbers dwindled?This is the question, P.D. James tries to answer in this novel. Our main character is an older academic, Theo Faron who is cousin to the (somewhat self-elected) Warden of England, who rules the country as he sees fit - providing freedom from fear, want and boredom for the people. Theo unwillingly stumbles upon a group of rebels who force him to face the darker truth of this seemingly quiet and content society - for instance when he witness a Quietus, a state organized mass suicide for the elderly...The main part of the book is focused on exploring how we would react if we ever happened to be in that situation - all traces of children are removed except dolls that some women regard as real children, animals are giving a more important role in society and to some extent takes the place of the missing children with Animal Custody Courts, animal baptizing etc - animal labour, however, is at the same time both a small miracle you invite guests to see and a strightly state controlled affair where you only get to keep part of the litter, the rest is disposed of.After having recently read The World without Us by Alan Weisman, the theme of this book seems even more probable and as a possible way we as a race could end....more